‘UpFront’: Craig touts ‘right-to-carry’ legislation

State Sen. Dave Craig, R-Town of Vernon, said his right-to-carry bill would remove barriers for law-abiding citizens who want to carry a concealed weapon in Wisconsin.

Craig is the lead Senate sponsor of the bill, which would remove the requirements for a permit, training and fee for concealed carry.

“This is a constitutional right. This is a fundamental right laid out by the Second Amendment. Government should be examining that to determine and make sure that people aren’t being infringed of their rights,” Craig said on “UpFront with Mike Gousha,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.

Gousha asked about criticism of Craig’s plan to eliminate the training requirement. Craig said other states have passed similar laws without ill effects.

“At the end of the day, people who are hell bent on conducting violence with a firearm are going to do that,” he said. “The only people who are worried about the law are the law-abiding citizens.”

Also on the program, Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki discussed the field of possible candidates to challenge Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2018.

In recent weeks, three people who were considering a run — U.S. Rep. Ron Kind of LaCrosse, former state Sen. Tim Cullen of Janesville, and Madison businessman Mark Bakken — have all said that they will not run next year.

“I’m really encouraged by the number of people who are looking at this right now. There are more people thinking about running for governor, who haven’t made up their mind yet today, on the Democratic side than there were four years ago at this time,” Zepecki said.